ESPN, other Disney networks go dark on DirecTV. Here’s what you need to know
ESPN and other Disney-owned networks went dark in DirecTV homes early Sunday evening after the sides failed to reach a new carriage agreement to replace the one that expired earlier in the day.
That means DirecTV homes won’t be able to watch the Florida State-Boston College game on ESPN on Monday night or college football on ESPN next weekend, unless the dispute is settled by then.
Also, homes with DirecTV’s streaming service -- as opposed to a DirecTV satellite dish -- lost WPLG-Channel 10 from their channel lineup. That means those “streaming” homes couldn’t watch the LSU-Southern California game on Sunday night on ABC.
Because WPLG is owned by Berkshire Hathaway and not by Disney, Channel 10 remained available in South Florida homes with DirecTV satellite service.
But homes with DirecTV Stream or DirecTV Via Streaming – two different packages - have lost ABC until the carriage dispute is resolved. Also, all DirecTV homes in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Fresno, Cal., and Raleigh lost their ABC station, because the ABC stations in those markets are owned by Disney.
Besides ESPN, other Disney basic cable channels that are now blacked out for all DirecTV homes include ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN News, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPN Deportes, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, BabyTV, FXX, FX Movie Channel, Freeform, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, and Nat Geo Mundo.
As is typical in these carriage agreements, both sides released statements blaming the other.
Disney said: “DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the US Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season. While we’re open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we’ve extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs. We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve. We urge DirecTV to do what’s in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming.”
DirecTV chief content office Ron Thun said: “The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system. Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world where we believe you earn your way and must answer for your own actions. They want to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers – making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.
“Consumer frustration is at an all-time high as Disney shifts its best producers, most innovative shows, top teams, conferences, and entire leagues to their direct-to-consumer services while making customers pay more than once for the same programming on multiple Disney platforms. Disney’s only magic is forcing prices to go up while simultaneously making its content disappear.”
According to a source, DirecTV would like to create smaller groups of channels (known as a “skinny bundle”) based on genre, such as sports and children’s programming, so that only those who want the channels will pay for them. ESPN wants all of its channels to be available to all or most subscribers without being placed on a tier.
A cable or satellite provider’s preference to place sports programming on a tier - instead of asking all subscribers to foot the bill - is generally at the root of these increasingly common carriage agreements, including the Comcast/Bally Sports impasse that stretched three months before being resolved July 29.
Unless an agreement can be reached within eight days, some DirecTV homes won’t be able to watch the Sept. 8 Jets-49ers “Monday Night Football opener,” which will be simulcast on ABC and ESPN.
Last year, Disney networks went dark on Charter Communications from Aug. 31 until just before the Sept. 11 Jets-Bills “Monday Night Football” opener.
The top college football games on ABC next Saturday are South Carolina-Kentucky at 3:30 p.m. and Tennessee-N.C. State at 7:30 p.m.
The top games on ESPN next Saturday include South Florida-Alabama at 7 p.m. DirecTV subscribers also are missing U.S. Open tennis on ESPN.
UM’s Sept. 7 home opener against Florida A&M at 6 p.m. will be streamed on ACC Extra, which is owned by ESPN and unavailable in DirecTV homes as long as the stalemate continues.
DirecTV is in just under nine million homes nationally, down from its peak of 21 million.
This story was originally published September 1, 2024 at 7:54 PM.
